AboutDr. Mac Expertise I can answer any question that has to do with working relationships, management skills or lack there of, conflict, and leadership. I primarily work with troubled teams, groups with poor management, or general dysfunction for over twenty-five years. I am also a professor at the University of Denver in the Alternative Dispute Resolution department. Go to www.greggiesenassociates.com to see my client list.
I'm using the alias "Dr. Mac" because he is the main character in my latest management book, Ask Dr. Mac. He plays a newspaper advice columnist on business issues.
Experience Again, twenty-five years of experience here. Email me at ggiesen@greggiesenassociates.com with any specific questions not related to this site.
Published articles written by Greg Giesen:
• Conflict Between Two Employees May Reflect on Organization, in the March, 2003 issue of the Denver Business Journal.
• Meeting Management: Let’s Cut to the Chase, in the March, 2003 edition of CHRA’s The Advisor magazine.
• From Conflict to Collaboration, appearing in the March, 2003 edition of Executive Excellence Magazine.
• Leading From Within, appearing in the April, 2003 edition of Personal Excellence Magazine.
• Only an Integrated Approach Will Increase Employee Motivation, May, 2004, OD Network magazine, Practicing.
• Motivational Mastery, appearing in the March, 2005 edition of Sales & Service Excellence Magazine.
• Creating Collaboration: A Process that Works, appearing in the July, 2007 edition of Projects & Profits magazine, India.
• The Value of Vision, Submitted to Chicken Soup for the Soul’s Lessons in Leadership, due out in January, 2009.
Books written by Greg Giesen:
• Creating Authenticity: Meaningful Questions for Meaningful Moments, 2001, ISBN: 0-9721114-0-9
• Creating Authenticity: Meaningful Questions for the Minds and Souls of Today’s Leaders, 2002, ISBN: 0-9721114-1-7
• Ask Dr. Mac: Take the Journey to Authentic Leadership, 2007, ISBN:
0-9788555-0-7.
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
• Your Best Year Yet Certification, Best Year Yet, LLC.
• DiSC Certification, Resources Unlimited.
• Social Styles Pro II Certification, Cahners TRACOM Group.
• Consultant’s Training, Corporate Transformation Tools, Richard Barrett & Associates.
• Myers-Briggs Type Indicator Qualification Training, NTL.
• Adventure Systems & Design, Challenge Course Certification.
• The Coaches Training Institute, The Professional Coaching Course.
• Group Process Consultation, NTL.
• Mediating EEO, Personnel & Employee Relations Disputes, CDR.
• Conflict Resolution Workshop, Aiki Works, Inc.
• Facilitator Training, (270-hours), Good Works Unlimited.
• Wilderness Therapy Practicum, Colorado Outward Bound School.
• The Human Element, Will Schutz & Associates.
EDUCATION
Masters of Science, 1982, Miami University, Oxford, Ohio. Major: Personnel Services & Counseling.
Bachelor of Arts, 1979, Western State College, Gunnison, Colorado. Majors: Psychology & Sociology.
Expert: Dr. Mac Date: 3/27/2008 Subject: Coworker lying on timesheets
Question A woman I work with - we'll call her Mary - was recently put in charge of keeping my organization's time cards(I work for the government). She records everyone's leave (about 25 people), gets their signatures, and then hands it up through two other people to our director.
She is also the union liaison for our organization, and over the past three years, has filed more than 10 racial discrimination complaints.
She is also having an affair with a supervisor two levels above her. He is married.
I do not know her well - she's told me straight out that because I'm white, "we can't be friends".
Today, one of her coworkers (they're in a different department than I am) came to me and told me that Mary is lying on her own time cards. Mary is taking days off and not using vacation or sick time. She's putting down that she is working overtime.
Mary has to walk through my office and in front of my desk to get to her room, and I know what time she usually gets in. She makes an entrance, too, because she's always jogging through the office.
The second coworker is also a timekeeper, and she collects all the time reports and files them. She knows that Mary is lying.
The second coworker is afraid to report Mary - this is exactly the kind of thing that Mary would try to turn into a racial discrimination complaint.
Ethically, I feel like our management has the right to know what is going on, but neither my coworker nor I feel right being a tattle tale.
However, what she is doing could effect us all, and it causes us to worry about her ethics since she has access to our social security numbers and other sensitive payroll information.
Do you have any advice?
Answer Hi Lynn.
Boy, a loaded scenario to be sure. Let me address as much as I can.
It sounds like you don't really work directly with Mary yourself, but are concerned because: a) one of Mary's coworkers shared her assertion with you that Mary is lying on her time cards, and b) Mary has access to your social security number and other sensitive payroll information and you are not sure you trust her with that information. Is that correct?
The truth is, the time card issue is really up to Mary's coworker to take on or not take on. For you, it is second-hand information and therefore not really your place to address.
But let's talk a little bit about the time card issue just the same. Typically, a supervisor has to sign off on time cards before turning them in. The reason for that is so that he/she can pick up on any mistakes or reporting errors. Even overtime has to be authorized. Given that, the system should eventually catch any time card abuses, forcing Mary to have to explain her recorded hours with her supervisor, which is really where this conversation should take place anyway.
What I'm saying here is that Mary's coworker should only take this on if: a) there is no check-and-balance system in place to catch the abuse, and b) she can prove that Mary is lying on her time cards. If both are true, then she should go forward with this. If both are not true, then there is no point in wasting too much energy on this.
The truth is, Mary is playing a dangerous game by dating the supervisor two levels above her and continuously filing racial discrimination complaints. These things rarely go unnoticed and eventually blow up in one way or another.
Lastly, always consider having a confidential conversation with HR for advice and guidance. They can usually tell you how something like this would play out and the best way to proceed if it makes sense to move forward with this concern.
